Since late Monday night, ongoing rain has been wreaking havoc in Nelson Mandela Bay. More than 100mm fell in some places, flooding neighbourhoods, roads, and destroying bridges. T

Roads flooded, bridges gave way, and residents were evacuated from their homes in parts of Kariega early on Tuesday, 22 October 2024, as the Nelson Mandela Bay metro received heavy rain.

In the early hours of Tuesday morning, stormwater canals broke their banks, and people in parts of Kariega had to be evacuated. The informal settlement of Lapland, where people had been awaiting removal to safer temporary housing since the previous flood, also flooded, and the police assisted in removing people to safer community halls.

This is the second major flood to hit the metro in four months, with Kariega also suffering extensive flooding in June.

The spokesperson for the Eastern Cape Department of Education, Malibongwe Mtima, said the writing of the computer applications technology paper for matric candidates in the Kariega area had been suspended as the area had been hit by both flooding and power outages. Officials from the Department of Education were in Kariega on Tuesday morning to assist learners.

Severely damaged roads

Collapsed stormwater drains in the Markman Industrial area caused large-scale flooding. The chairperson of the Markman Business Forum, Graham Taylor, said...